Licorice Sticks and Aniseed Balls
by Nightjar
Summary: Voldemort hits Harry with one final curse before he escapes, and the effects are more permanent than anyone could have predicted… except maybe Orion Trelawney. [Slash, Incest] [Timetravel]
1. Chapter 1: Transita Aetas

Miss Moony would like to say that she doesn't own Harry Potter and that she had no help with this fic from Miss Wormtail, Miss Padfoot or Miss Prongs.

**Chapter Warnings: **None, really.

**Summary:** Voldemort hits Harry with one final curse before he escapes, and the effects are more permanent than anyone could have predicted… except maybe Orion Trelawney.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Chapter 1: Transita Aetas**

'Hermione,' Ron whined, and Harry smiled at his best friends' antics. He and Ron had come to stay with Hermione's family for the last fortnight of the holidays, before they would begin their seventh year, and Hermione had insisted on showing Ron all the sights of Muggle London.

Of course, all Ron wanted to do right now was visit Quality Quidditch Supplies.

After a few more minutes of their bickering, Harry got fed up. 'We could always go to some sweet shops, if you want. They have a whole load of stuff that you can't get in Honeydukes.'

The suggestion put an end to this particular argument, when Ron became quite enthusiastic about the idea, and Hermione grudgingly agreed, as well, but Harry doubted very much that the peace would last for long. It never did.

Hermione quickly directed them to what was, in her opinion, the best sweet shop around. It was small, and would probably have been unnoticeable if it hadn't been for the large, luminescent-coloured signs in the windows, displaying price promises, and announcements about new sweets.

'Harry, Ron,' she called to them while they were at the back of the shop, examining large tubs of peppermint creams, and gobstoppers.

'Are these like Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans?' Ron asked Harry, looking suspiciously at a jar of jellybeans, and Harry suppressed his laughter at the expression on the redhead's face, until Hermione marched over and forcibly dragged them to a shelf near the window-display, boasting large signs declaring **ANISEED BALLS: 55p A BAG!** in block capitals.

'Hermione?' Ron asked, looking at her cautiously when she didn't explain why she'd brought them here.

She didn't answer, gazing absently at the sweets, and while Harry waved his hand slowly in front of her face, Ron prodded her in the side. 'What d'you reckon?' Harry asked Ron. 'Human or robot?'

'Huh?' was Ron's only response, and he stared at Harry blankly. 'What's a "robot"?'

Harry shook his head and sighed. 'Nothing,' he said.

They both waited in silence for Hermione to come back down to earth, and when it finally happened – after what seemed like a whole half hour – they both leapt about a foot in the air. 'Almost half-price,' she said. 'Have you ever tried aniseed balls? They're one of my favourite sweets.'

Harry and Ron both replied with a negative, and Hermione shook her head and sighed in mock-sadness. 'It's too bad really. They're good.'

'You think I should get some?' Harry asked. 'Aunt Petunia always said that they were "vile substances", so I'm prepared to bet that they're actually quite good.'

'If you want,' Hermione replied, her brown eyes laughing.

Harry shrugged, and picked up two bags. At Ron's questioning glance, Harry explained, 'One for Hermione, and one for us two to share.'

Harry could easily see the faint blush that appeared on Ron's ears as he objected, but he was silenced by Harry's grin, which, in turn, made his ears go even redder, when he realised that Harry's original intention had been to embarrass him.

One of the bags of aniseed balls was quickly replaced on the shelf, and the one remaining one in Harry's hand was soon joined by a bag of jellybeans, a few gobstoppers, some sugar mice, and a bag of sherbet rockets, complete with licorice dippers. 'You really going to buy all that?' Ron asked in bemusement, and Harry returned his stare, pretending to be wounded by his best friend's words, as it was well known that Ron never refrained from spending all his savings on sweets whenever they had a Hogsmeade weekend.

Eventually, when all the sweets had been paid for – and Ron and Hermione themselves had picked out almost as many different things as Harry had -, they all decided to indulge Hermione in her wish to go to a bookshop. Waterstones, to be precise.

-------

All three friends exited the shop almost an hour and a half later, at 3:35 in the afternoon, armed with large piles of Muggle literature. Or rather, Harry and Ron were loaded down with mountains of books, and Hermione had somehow managed to ensure that she carried nothing herself, except for the plastic bag stuffed with the sweets they'd all bought earlier.

The scene that awaited them, though, was not a pleasant one:

Bellatrix Lestrange, in all her Death Eater glory, was standing outside the door, trying to look inconspicuous, and, upon a second glance around, Harry noticed several others stationed in various positions around the street.

The Muggles, of course, hadn't noticed a thing yet, though Pettigrew's silver hand – on display to the world – was gaining quite a few odd looks. Harry, Ron and Hermione, however, could hardly help noticing them, especially when Lestrange's wand was aimed threateningly at Hermione's throat.

Lestrange had an odd, gleeful smile on her face when she spoke. 'The Dark Lord wishes to speak with you, Potter, and you'll comply.'

'What makes you think that?' Ron shot out defensively, only a split second before realising what a dumb question that was.

Lestrange smirked, and prodded her wand into the skin of Hermione's neck. Hermione gulped, but her eyes flashed with defiance. 'Because otherwise his Mudblood girlfriend dies.'

Lestrange marched Hermione at wand-point into a back alley, and Harry and Ron followed, not knowing what else to do. They walked for a few more minutes, and then stopped. And waited.

Harry knew what was coming – he'd gone through this routine many times before -, but that really didn't give him much comfort when Voldemort himself made his grand entry not long afterwards.

'My Lord, we have him,' Lestrange said as soon as her master had apparated into the alleyway, dropping to her knees and kissing the hem of his robes. Two other Death Eaters (Harry thought that they might be Crabbe and Goyle Senior, by the looks of them) had placed Ron and Hermione in the full body-bind, and Harry himself had an unidentified Death Eater levelling a wand at his back, in case he decided to attempt a rescue.

Their purchases lay abandoned at the side of the alley.

'Well done, Bellatrix,' Voldemort said, his voice cold and icy, and also sadistically happy. 'I am pleased.'

He turned to Harry, and the Boy-Who-Lived thought that he could practically see every malevolent intention right there in those violent crimson eyes.

'Let them go,' Harry growled furiously, and Voldemort smiled.

'I'm afraid not, Potter. They're here as a guarantee, you see, to make sure you won't run away before I've had my fun with you.'

Harry snarled, and reached for his wand, but froze again when he felt the wand digging painfully into his back: A reminder of where he was, and who he was dealing with.

'Nott, let the boy get his wand,' Voldemort commanded, and Harry sensed the presence behind him back off slightly, taking the wand with it. His eyes flickered towards Ron and Hermione, who were still under the _petrificus totalus_, but now were also being held at wand-point. If Harry escaped without them, then they would almost certainly die.

'And now we duel,' Voldemort said mockingly, now that Harry's wand was in his hand.

They both gave very shallow bows, never breaking eye contact, and then they began to shoot off spells. Harry was struggling to hold off a barrage of Unforgivables when he suddenly got hit.

'_Transita aetas!_' Voldemort cried, and a jet of bright red light hit Harry directly in the chest, blasting him backwards and into a wall with its force.

Voldemort leant over him as he got woozily to his feet. 'What irony,' he declared, 'that the Boy-Who-Lived was the cause of his own downfall.' The Death Eaters began disapparating away at a signal from their master, and Harry, Ron and Hermione were left alone with Voldemort.

Before he, too, disapperated, Voldemort met Harry's eyes and said, 'Enjoy your life, Potter. What you have left of it.'

Harry got to his feet slowly, using the wall for support, and then he limped over and released Hermione and Ron from the body-bind.

'Why is it,' Ron asked, trying to lighten the atmosphere as they gathered up their purchases, 'that the Death Eaters _still_ think Hermione's your girlfriend?'

Harry met both his and Hermione's eyes in turn, and cracked a small smile.

And, with a loud _crack_, they appeared back in Hermione's living room.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Author's Notes:** "Transita aetas" translates roughly to "changing time" – nicked from Batling's fic, "Transitus Aetas".


	2. Chapter 2: Empty Hallways

Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to Serpent of Light for being the first reviewer.

Miss Moony would also like to thank crazyirishchocolatelover and queen-of-monkey-magic for reviewing.

To Serpent of Light: Alas, but I never saw the film. I think the trailer put me off slightly, though I'm not quite sure why. And, yes, the spell effects Harry directly. And "transita aetas" roughly translates to "changing time".

**Chapter Warnings:** Character death… kind of.

**Chapter Summary:** Harry is dreaming of empty hallways, and Ron and Hermione are almost going spare with worry.

The dream phases are written in _italics_ and are in the second person, present tense. Sorry if that bothers you, but it will be the same throughout the whole story. Good news is, though, that after this chapter, there won't be many dreams worth recording.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Chapter 2: Empty Hallways**

_The hall is cold and empty as you wander down it, wondering why you're here. 'Hello?' you call out into the darkness, but only silence answers you. 'Is anyone there?' _

It is night time, and you can see the full moon high in the sky, through clear glass window beside you. A wolf howls in the distance, and you hope that Professor Lupin is okay tonight.

You take in the Whomping Willow, and the Forbidden Forest, and the sight of Hagrid's Hut, and you think that everything is as it should be right now.

And so you walk on.

-------

'Any luck so far?' Ron asked Hermione, and she sighed and shook her head in disappointment.

He kept glancing between the book she'd given and the door, so eventually took pity. 'Why don't you go and wake Harry,' she suggested, and at his hopeful look, she added, 'I can manage on my own for a while.'

Ron smiled at her in thanks, and left the room quickly, before she had a chance to change her mind. She couldn't really blame him, as she'd developed a habit of forcing him to study, even before they'd started going out, and now that Harry was sick, it was probably even worse for him.

_Transita aetas. Transita aetas…_ she thought. _"Transita" is a variation of the Latin word "transitus", which can mean "crossing over", "changing", or "travel", and "aetas" can mean "age", "era", "season" or "time". So "transita aetas" would be something to do with time travel. Maybe there's something in here…_

She flipped from the Muggle book she was looking at on time-travel theory, to a magical one she'd bought in Hogsmeade in third year, when she'd first received her time-turner.

The book was supposedly a complete archive of every researched method of time-travel, both legal and illegal. There was nothing about any curse with the incantation "transita aetas".

'Which means it must've never been properly researched,' she thought aloud. 'Or that he created it himself.'

'Who created what?'

She spun around in surprise, and saw both Harry and Ron standing in the kitchen doorway. It was Ron who'd spoken: Harry looked too tired to do anything but yawn, as he had been looking throughout most of his waking hours since they'd returned from their venture into Muggle London. Almost a week ago.

'Voldemort – oh, honestly, Ron; it's just a name.' She looked between them suspiciously before continuing, 'and what are you two doing back here so soon?'

'Thought we migh' s'well help you,' Harry said through a yawn, 'seein' 's 'm up now.'

'What he said,' Ron answered, shrugging.

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back around. She waved her hand in the direction of the pile of books on the table. Harry and Ron both made their way over and sat down in vacant chairs.

Each of them picked up a book, and they all got to work.

-------

_You wonder if this is another Voldemort-dream, like the ones he gave you of the Department of Mysteries in fifth year. _But what would Voldemort want me to fetch that's in Hogwarts?_ you think, but then, realising that that train of thought won't get you any answers, you decide to stop thinking completely._

The halls are empty, and you wonder if that's because Dumbledore goes away in the holidays. 'Hello?' you call out, because even if Dumbledore's not here, it doesn't seem right that the ancient castle should be completely empty. Someone needs to keep up the wards.

You can see the moon rising in the east, through the window of the empty Transfiguration classroom.

A pale, translucent figure drifts through the door, looking glum, and it takes you a moment to recognise the ghost as Nearly-Headless Nick. 'Potter?' the figure asks, frowning. 'What are you doing here?'

'I don't know,' you reply. 'I think I'm dreaming.'

Nick smiles, and you smile back. The night goes on.

-------

Hermione half-smiled fondly at Harry, where he'd fallen asleep over his book. His round glasses had fallen off his nose, and the ends of his fringe were barely brushing his eyelids. He was silent and unmoving, which was a rare occurrence, and had been since Voldemort rose in their fourth year.

Ron shifted, and sighed, putting down his book. 'What're we looking for, again?'

'Transita aetas, Ron,' Hermione replied, rolling her eyes.

The door quietly creaked open, and Mrs. Granger poked her head around the door. 'It's getting late,' she said. 'Don't you think you should get him up to bed?'

She looked pointedly in Harry's direction, and then glanced disapprovingly at the bag of aniseed balls that had ended up in the middle of the table, next to all their workbooks.

The empty plates that had been piled with their dinner were now empty, and stacked neatly on the corner of the table. Mrs. Granger came over and gathered up the plates, frowning once again at the bag of aniseed balls, but not touching it. She glanced at Hermione sharply. 'You have nice teeth now, Hermione,' she said. 'Be careful you don't rot them.'

'Mum,' Hermione began to protest, but she was silenced with a swift glare from her mother. 'Yes, Mum,' she said meekly, and Ron stared at Mrs. Granger in awe.

Her mouth twitched, and she shook her head fondly at Hermione and Ron. 'Don't stay up too late,' she said, and then swiftly left the room.

Hermione met Ron's eyes, and the both looked at Harry, and Ron leant over and gently shook him awake.

'Time to go to bed, mate,' he said, and Harry nodded blearily, while Ron helped him to his feet.

-------

_The hall is darker now, than it was the last time you dreamed, but you also find that it's sharper. Clearer in your mind, as if this time you have truly arrived at Hogwarts._

Transita aetas_. The words echo in your mind, and you approach the dungeons, where there are no windows, and you can't tell if the moon is still full tonight, but that in itself reminds you of Remus, so you begin to run._

You don't have much energy, so you stop running soon enough, and it scares you that instead of getting foggier, like it usually does, the corridor is becoming more and more focused.

You instinctively put your hands into the pockets of your tattered pyjamas and surprise yourself when you feel the paper bag inside it. You pull the bag out of your pocket, and see that it's the bag of aniseed balls that you bought that day in Muggle London… though you can't remember how long it's been since then.

The corridor is much too clear, and you're desperately tired. At that moment, all you want to do is curl up and go to sleep forever.

So you do.

The aniseed balls clatter against the dungeon floor as they roll out of their fallen bag.

-------

The sun rose, and the light shone through the open curtains and into Ron's face. He slowly sat up and rubbed the sleepy-dust out of his eyes, and then turned to Harry.

His best friend was still fast asleep, laid on his side, and half-buried under all the blankets that Mrs. Granger had insisted that he have, once she'd seen his state the morning after the attack. She'd originally wanted to send Harry back to his family, as she was sure that they'd want to look after him themselves, but, luckily, he and Hermione had managed to convince her that the thought wouldn't be as appreciated by the Dursleys as she seemed to think it would be.

'Ron?' Hermione's soft voice came through the door of the spare bedroom, and it was accompanied by a quiet but firm rap on the door.

'Yeah?' Ron replied, and Hermione seemed to take that as permission to enter, as the door opened with a slight squeak, and she slid through.

'We should wake him up,' she said, looking at Harry. 'He needs breakfast just as much as we do. If not more, as he seems to be lacking in energy these days.'

Ron sighed, and rolled out of bed, before moving over to Harry's and gently shaking the younger boy's shoulder.

There was no reaction, and Ron frowned, but shook him again, more urgently, this time.

Harry's form flopped over onto its side, and Hermione gasped in horror at the sight of his face. Ron was even more horrified, though.

The shoulder of Harry's t-shirt had slid down slightly, and Ron's hand was now partially resting on the bare skin at the base of Harry's cold, pale neck.

He shook Harry again, and quietly called out his name.

Harry didn't stir.


	3. Chapter 3: Harry Blackmoon

Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to crazyirishchocolatelover for being the first reviewer.

Miss Moony would also like to thank Serpent of Light, Antanaqui, Unknown-Dreams (twice) and queen-of-monkey-magic for reviewing.

To Serpent of Light: Have you read _Clawtracks of a Star_ by neutral? The situation's a bit like that – the Harry at Hermione's house is kind of like an echo of the real Harry, to fill the void in the present that he left behind, if that makes sense. But the version of him that's in the past has a complete physical form from the start.

**Chapter Warnings:** Time-travel

**Chapter Summary:** In the past, Harry awakens.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Chapter 3: Harry Blackmoon**

He could feel a warm hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently, and he voiced a muffled protest when it shook him mercilessly into wakefulness.

There was a small, brown-haired woman standing over him, looking disapproving.

'Who're you?' he asked, squinting slightly.

The woman frowned. 'I believe that _you_ should be the one to answer that question,' she said. 'You look like James Potter, but even _he_ is not foolish enough to place a spell on his eyes.'

''M Harry,' was the boy's only reply. He didn't know her, and, consequentially, he didn't know which side she was on: Dumbledore had told him early on in his training that he should never trust the loyalties of strangers. Especially strangers in Hogwarts, which, he believed, was where he was at the moment.

'Well, "Harry",' she said, 'I am Professor Fleming, Potions Mistress at this school. Would you mind telling me how you came to be here, or would you rather I took you to the Headmaster directly?'

Harry frowned, and wondered what had happened to Snape. 'I'd rather talk to Professor Dumbledore, actually,' he said, and, too late, realised that, if she was a Death Eater, then "Headmaster" could be a code word for "the Dark Lord".

The walk to Dumbledore's office was painfully slow, and Harry found himself stumbling often. He suspected that his bad footing, even on even ground, had something to do with the lack of glasses.

They eventually arrived, though, and "Professor Fleming" said the password, 'Licorice sticks.' The gargoyle jumped out of the way, and she climbed the stairs behind Harry.

'Hello, Eir, Mr. Potter,' the man behind the desk said to them as soon as they'd entered and shut the door behind them. He had grey hair with a very slight reddish tint, and bright blue eyes behind oval-shaped glasses.

'Albus,' Eir nodded to him, and it was only then that Harry realised that the man behind the desk was Professor Dumbledore.

'What happened to Professor Snape?' Harry asked immediately, and at Dumbledore's inquisitive look, he nodded in Eir's direction and added, 'She said she was the Potions Mistress.'

Dumbledore frowned and examined Harry thoroughly through narrowed eyes. 'There is no Professor Snape here. Nor was there ever. Would you mind telling me who you are?'

Harry did a rather impressive goldfish impression, and then managed to stutter out, 'A-are you okay, Professor? It's me, Harry. Harry Potter.'

The Headmaster frowned again. 'There is only one line with the name of Potter, and James Potter has no siblings.'

'I'm his son, Professor!'

Dumbledore smiled at Harry's outburst, and Harry could see the old man's eyes twinkling more than ever. 'Tell me, Harry. What year were you born in?'

Harry slumped into an overstuffed armchair and said in a bored manner, '1980, sir.'

'It is as I thought, then,' Dumbledore mused to himself. 'You are from the future.'

Harry's eyes widened in shock, and he said, 'But I can't be in the past,' he said. 'I'll cause a paradox, and then how am I supposed to defeat Voldemort?'

Dumbledore wasn't fazed, but Harry noticed Eir flinch slightly at the use of Voldemort's name. 'Time works in mysterious ways, Mr. Potter,' Dumbledore said. 'It may be that you were meant to be here. And if you change time by being here, it won't necessarily cause a paradox. There really isn't enough research into the subject for us to know for sure.'

Harry gulped and nodded. 'What am I going to do, then?'

Dumbledore smiled. 'If you tell me how you got here, then I can prevail on the Ministry for help with researching a way for you to get home. In the meantime, you will attend to your – sixth? Seventh? – year here at Hogwarts. I will have to ask Eir to take you under her wing for the rest of the summer.'

For a moment, Harry thought that Eir might protest, but she seemed to decide against it, as she nodded sourly a few moments later. Harry took a deep breath and began to explain how he'd come to be where he was.

He told Dumbledore and Eir of his trip to Muggle London, of Ron and Hermione's capture, and his own duel with Voldemort. '… He used a spell – _Transita aetas_ – and then he apparated. I got Ron and Hermione, and we apparated back to Hermione's house…'

He then went on to explain his "illness", and the dreams he'd been having, and finally looked up and met the Headmaster's eyes.

Dumbledore looked pensive, and Harry wasn't quite sure how he felt about that. 'I know of the spell He used,' the old man said finally, 'but it was never researched properly. I will write to the Ministry, and I'm sure that Minister Bagnold will agree to reopen the research project on this particular aspect of time-travel.'

Harry nodded, feeling two stares resting on him; Dumbledore's thoughtful, and Eir's astonished.

There was silence for a moment, and then a flash of fire announced Fawkes' arrival with a letter for the Headmaster. Dumbledore reached out and took it, and Eir took that as her cue to leave, with Harry trailing after her.

'You will need another identity while you are here,' she said after they had walked together in an uneasy silence for most of the journey back to the dungeons. 'After all, you can hardly announce to the entire school that you are James Potter's son from the future. And we'll also need to make you look a little less like him, as well' – she examined his face closely – 'I expect that you can achieve that by just growing your hair out a little, and getting rid of the glasses: I'll brew a sight-correcting potion. But what for the name?'

'Blackmoon,' Harry immediately suggested, thinking of Sirius and Remus, and acquiescing with a nod to her other suggestions – though they were more like orders, really. 'I'll be Harry Blackmoon.'

Eir stopped dead, her eyes wide as she looked at Harry, and a look of realisation crossed her face, though Harry didn't know why.

'What's wrong?' he asked when a minute had gone by, and she still hadn't stopped staring at him.

She shook her head, and stuttered out, 'N-nothing. It's nothing.'

He accepted her answer without complaint, and they continued on their way to her quarters, but the look on her face was etched into his mind, and he knew he wasn't going to let this go until he had an answer.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Author's Note: **Eir means "mercy" in Old Norse. It was the name of a Norse goddess of healing and medicine. Also, Fleming was the inventor of penicillin (can you tell I've got something big planned for this character?). The name Blackmoon, I stole shamelessly from a fic I read ages ago, though I can't remember the title or the author. Go to this thread at Fiction Alley Park if you want to find out more: www. fictionalley. org/fictionalleypark/forums/showthread. php?s&threadid81887 (remove spaces)


	4. Chapter 4: Phoenix Feather

Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to Serpent of Light for being the first reviewer.

Miss Moony would also like to thank Toki Mirage, xMegz, Kaaera, Unknown-Dreams and Antanaqui for reviewing.

To Serpent of Light: Info on Norse Mythology from www. behindthename. com – it's a name etymology site. You'll see how they relate to each other in (checks) the next chapter, and as for why she's keeping it a secret; just shock at the moment, and uncertainty, too. I don't have a clue what'd go into an eyesight-correcting potion, but I've decided that there is one, but that it's banned in Harry's time because messing with people's eyes is so likely to cause blindness if done incorrectly. And as for Eir being like McGonagall? (Cackles) She does seem that way, doesn't she? But you'll be seeing a lot more of her in future chapters, and there are quite a few notable differences. (And just for the record: being short-sighted sucks, doesn't it? – I have enough problems with it, and I've got the best eyesight in my immediate family. Also, I don't remember mentioning balance anywhere; could you clarify?)

To Unknown-Dreams: You'll see. In the next chapter, I think.

To Antanaqui: Umm… not exactly.

**Chapter Warnings:** Time-travel

**Chapter Summary:** Eir takes Harry to Diagon Alley, and Harry meets Remus (again?).

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Chapter 4: Phoenix Feather**

'You look rather like a certain Miss Evans that Mr. Potter seems to have his eye on,' Eir commented as they exited her chambers together. There was a speculative glint in her eye, and the newly dubbed Harry Blackmoon suddenly asked her, 'Were you a Ravenclaw, by any chance?'

She laughed and grinned at him, nodding in answer to his question. 'Certainly not Gryffindor material, though the Hat did consider putting me in Hufflepuff or Slytherin.'

'Why Ravenclaw, then?' Harry asked his new guardian-of-sorts, truly curious.

She looked down at him and smiled slightly. 'Because I have an undying passion for research.'

'Oh,' was the only response that Harry had for that answer, and they walked on in silence.

Eir had brewed two simple potions the evening before: one to lengthen his hair, and the other so that he wouldn't need his glasses any more. The end result had left him looking much more like – as Eir had already noted – his mother than his father, which was the general intention, though he didn't look particularly like either of them at a first glance anymore.

'Shall we be going?' Eir asked, bringing Harry back down to earth. He met her eyes, smiled, nodded, and then followed her to the Great Hall.

-------

'Diagon Alley!'

With a shout, Harry was spinning through emerald flames, past thousands of fireplaces, until he toppled out into the Leaky Cauldron and landed ceremoniously in a heap on the floor.

At the sound of stifled laughter, he looked up, and saw Eir looking at him with crinkles around her eyes, and one hand held over her mouth. Her eyes were dancing with amusement.

He glowered for a moment, and then got to his feet. Noticing the stares of the other customers, he figured that such entrances obviously weren't as common in this time period as they were in his own. 'Problem, Mr. Blackmoon?' Eir asked.

He glared again, and hissed under his breath, 'For _once_ in my _life_, I would like to make a _graceful _entrance.'

Eir laughed again, hearing him, but this time she didn't try to hide it, and Harry followed her out of the Leaky Cauldron in a grouch, still muttering furiously to himself.

It was only about an hour later when Harry found himself laden down with packages of various sizes, and struggling to keep up with Eir's brisk pace as he stumbled towards Ollivander's. His wand was the only thing that he had left to pick up for the new year at Hogwarts, except for his Potions ingredients, which Eir had insisted on getting last, while she picked up some supplies for a project she was working on – Harry didn't ask what.

Dumping the packages on the spindly chair, he sighed in relief, experiencing a slight floating sensation. The bell above the door tinkled softly as the door swung itself shut.

Mr. Ollivander soon appeared from between the many wand-filled shelves, and Harry was pleased to realise that, this time, he didn't jump. 'You're a little old to be a first-year,' he said, in his usual creepy tone, 'so that must mean you've lost or broken your first wand. No matter, no matter, it can't have been as good as an Ollivander's wand anyway…'

He trailed off as the measuring tapes dropped to the floor and he plucked a wand from its shelf. 'Let's see… Ebony and unicorn hair, nine and a half inches.'

Harry waved the wand, feeling nothing, and hoped desperately that he'd find new wand that wasn't his old one, or else he didn't know what would happen in his own time, unless, of course, Dumbledore had been correct in thinking that he was _meant_ to change time.

'No, no,' the old wand-maker muttered, snatching the wand from his hand, and immediately replacing it with another – dragon heartstring and elder wood, twelve inches.

Again, the wand was quickly taken back, and soon enough, Harry was beginning to give up hope that there was, indeed, another wand in the shop that would match.

But it hardly mattered any more, anyway, because Ollivander approached with Harry's old wand held lovingly in his hands. 'Here, try this one,' he said, 'Holly and phoenix feather – unusual combination -, eleven inches.'

Harry winced slightly, unnoticeably, but took the wand gingerly and waved it, feeling the familiar rush of warmth through his veins, then smiled, relieved despite himself – even if there had been another wand for him, it wouldn't have been the same, and he was rather fond of this one.

'What did you say your name was?' the wand-maker asked, taking a quill and a roll of parchment from his desk. Harry assumed that he was alerting Dumbledore to the fact that Fawkes' second feather's wand had been sold.

'Harry Blackmoon,' he answered.

'Curious, curious…' Ollivander muttered as Eir placed some money on the counter, but this time Harry didn't bother asking why, and, after picking up his other purchases, left the shop.

He and Eir finally made their way towards the apothecary, taking their time, and Eir deemed it appropriate to remove some of the parcels from Harry's pile and carry them herself, realising that the height of it was making it impossible for him to see.

'Here we are,' she said, unnecessarily, as they reached the small, dingy shop and entered. He heard a bell ring to the tune of Big Ben somewhere above the door, a feature which had been removed by the time he'd come here with Hagrid – Personally, Harry thought that it'd probably annoyed the shopkeeper a few too many times.

'I noticed,' Harry grumbled, setting down his pile again and rubbing at his stiff arms.

Eir sniffed. 'No need to get all shirty about it, Blackmoon,' she said in a mock-offended tone, and Harry half-grinned, thinking that he was coming to like the unpredictable Potions Mistress.

Handing him a list, she said, 'These are the supplies you'll need for the year. I need to get my own things now.'

He nodded, and blinked in surprise when, a moment later, she was over at the till, discussing whatever it was that Potions-enthusiasts discussed when they met.

'Hogwarts?' Harry heard a voice from behind him, and spun around in alarm.

The sandy-haired boy who'd spoken grinned apologetically, then said, 'I haven't seen you around; are you an exchange student?'

'Kind of,' Harry said. 'I'll be starting my seventh year.'

'You'll be in my year then,' the boy said. 'Hogwarts doesn't usually accept exchanges, though – what's the story?'

Harry grinned uneasily. 'It's… er… rather complicated,' he said, hoping to avert his new year-mate away from this topic of conversation, and, surprisingly, it worked.

'Aah,' the boy said knowingly, 'Say no more. What's your name, anyway?'

This, Harry could answer, and he was glad of it – the boy seemed quite friendly, and Harry hadn't been very companionable, just standing there umm-ing and er-ing. 'Harry Blackmoon,' he said, extending a hand.

The boy reached out and shook it. 'Pleased to make your acquaintance,' he said with an open and warm smile. 'I'm Remus Lupin.'


	5. Chapter 5: The Coming of the Black Moon

Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to Antanaqui for being the first reviewer.

Miss Moony would also like to thank toolazytosignin, Kaelin-Hikaru (twice), Starr Light1, Kaaera, HPfreakout, Unknown-Dreams and Toki Mirage for reviewing.

To Starr Light1: Uh-huh (grins). Don't worry – I've got all the particulars of this story figured out already, so if you see more things loike that, then they're likely there on purpose.

To Antanaqui: Umm… no, he doesn't. I mean, plenty of people have weird names, so if Remus has noticed anything, then he probably just thinks it's a coincidence.

**Chapter Warnings:** Time-travel

**Chapter Summary:** Prophecies will always be a constant in Harry's life, no matter what name he goes by.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Chapter 5: At the Coming of the Black Moon**

That evening, at dinner, Harry was invited to sit at the High Table with the teachers. Dumbledore conjured up a chair for him at the empty place between Hagrid and another teacher who had been introduced to him as Professor Kettleburn – Harry immediately recognised the name, and the all-essential missing limb (currently only his left arm) that went with it.

'Have you heard about the Werewolf Registration Act, Eir?' Harry heard Professor Kettleburn ask the Potions Mistress, and he raised his head, listening intently.

Eir sniffed, put down her knife and fork, and took a deep breath. Harry winced, recognising the look on her face as the one Hermione got when she was about to begin a rant on the injustices of House-Elf treatment. 'Dolores Umbridge,' she declared, 'is an utter cow.'

He blinked in surprise – it definitely wasn't what he'd expected her to say. Professor Kettleburn and Hagrid looked to be hanging on to her every word, and Professor Dumbledore was listening politely with his head inclined. The other professors were either talking amongst themselves or trying to divert the line of conversation.

It was effectively ended, though, when Professor Sprout said sympathetically, 'Poor Lupin,' and then added, 'Now, then, Eir – you said you needed more aconite, didn't you? I'll need to know how much…'

And they began an enthusiastic discussion about the uses of various magical plants in potion making. Harry himself somehow managed to get on to the subject of dragons, and spent the rest of dinner regaling Hagrid and Professor Kettleburn with the tale of a kind man he'd known who had once tried to raise an illegal baby dragon in a wooden hut, and who attempted to cross-breed a fire-crab and a manticore with surprising results.

-------

'Professor?' he asked Eir when they finally returned to her rooms in the dungeons.

She made a vague "hmm?" noise without looking up from her book, which Harry took as an invitation to continue. He said, 'Why do you keep giving me strange looks?'

He saw her stiffen, almost unnoticeably, and put down her book and looked up, saying, 'What strange looks?' with almost Gryffindor-ish obviousness.

He rolled his eyes. 'Like when I decided to call myself "Harry Blackmoon", and you gave me this look that was really…' he floundered for the right word, but eventually had to settle resignedly for "strange".

Eir laughed the same mocking laugh that she'd not been able to contain in Diagon Alley, except that this time she didn't even bother to try. Harry scowled, and snapped, 'Well?' in an irritated tone.

She stopped laughing abruptly at his question, and looked sombre. Sighing, she got to her feet and trudged into her sleeping quarters, returning soon with a piece of parchment in her hand. Flopping back down in her armchair, she asked, 'Why did you choose the name Blackmoon?'

Harry frowned, not expecting the question. 'After Sirius and Professor Lupin – Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, that is,' he explained when she rose her eyebrow at the first names he'd used for them. 'But I really don't see what that's got to do with anything, though: it's just a made up name.'

Professor Fleming chewed on her lip anxiously, and then said, 'That made up name could be more important than you think.' And she handed him the parchment she was carrying. 'It's a letter from a friend of mine, called Orion. He's a seer. And a proper one, not like Janice.'

Momentarily distracted, Harry looked up and said confusedly, 'Janice?'

'Oh, right. I forgot that you don't know her. Janice Maw – she's the Divination teacher here.'

Harry nodded, and then looked at the letter. It read:

_Eir,_

_I know I haven't contacted you recently, but I am writing now to tell you about a recurring dream I've been having lately, much in the same manner as the others, so that you can pass it on to whomever you feel should know about it._

_It was night, and I could see the Hogwarts grounds in front of me, with animals running around the place. And then there was a voice, though I couldn't see where it was coming from. It said to me, "At the coming of the black moon, times will change, and under the light of the black moon, the Dark Lord will fall. The black moon approaches: the future remapped."_

_I hope you have some idea of what to make of this, because I don't – I've heard of a blue moon, but never a black one._

_Regards,_

_Orion Trelawney_

Harry scanned the letter twice, and then handed it back to Eir, muttering, 'Not _more_ prophecies,' sarcastically under his breath.

Eir frowned at his reaction, but didn't do anything else save taking the letter from his hand. 'You think it means me?' he asked her.

She half-smiled sympathetically. 'I don't know who else could mean.'

He nodded, more to himself than to the Potions Mistress, and they spent the rest of the evening just sitting there in silence until it was time for bed.

-------

The next afternoon was to be the last before the students returned for the new school year, and consequentially, Harry found himself once again sitting in Dumbledore's office, facing a barrage of questions about his NEWT subjects, and other essentials.

'… And I take Potions and Herbology.'

Dumbledore frowned. 'Only five subjects?'

Harry nodded and answered, 'That's what's expected in my time.'

'The students usually take six, Mr. Blackmoon,' Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. Harry blinked.

'I guess I could take Care of Magical Creatures, then,' he said. 'I got an O for my OWL.'

The Headmaster nodded, as if approving of his decision, and Professor McGonagall scribbled it down on the list she was writing, and then put down her quill and parchment, taking up the Sorting Hat.

Seeing Harry's blank look, she explained, 'I know you've been Sorted already, but this is just to make sure you'll fit in in this time, too.'

His mouth formed an O-shape, and when McGonagall placed the hat on his head, he was happy to realise that it no longer slipped down far enough to obscure his vision.

_Now, lets see here. Plenty of courage, and quite clever, too. I see ambition, definitely, as well as loyalty. Hmm…_

_Not Slytherin,_ Harry thought back at the Hat, though not as desperately as he had in First-Year, but stubbornly.

The Hat was unfazed._ No, I suppose not. You're more of a _'GRYFFINDOR!'

Taking off the Hat, he saw McGonagall trying to hide a smug look, and he grinned, thinking that he must've grown into a proper Gryffindor – his Sorting had taken a lot longer the first time.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

Yes, Orion Trelawney is related to Sybil Trelawney. He's her third cousin, once removed. It isn't generally known that he's a seer, and he likes it that way, so he tends to tell no one but Eir about his visions. The phrase "the future remapped" is actually stolen from the title of Shezza88's wonderful Harry/Lily fic: I couldn't think of anything else to put there.


	6. Chapter 6: Not So Welcome

Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to Unknown-Dreams for being the first reviewer.

Miss Moony would also like to thank HPfreakout, Toki Mirage, Kaaera and maliaphire for reviewing.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Chapter 6: No-So-Welcome**

Harry sat alone at the end of the Gryffindor table while Dumbledore made his welcoming speech about Dark Times and the House unity that was unlikely to ever exist in full. The Gryffindor students, both new and returning, ignored him for the most part, either concentrating on the Headmaster's speech, scrutinising the first-years, or their own grumbling bellies.

When Dumbledore seated himself, there was a loud sigh of relief from where he had spotted Remus sitting with the other Marauders, and looking at them, he saw that it was James who'd made the noise. The first-years looked up and down the table, searching for the food with expressions of confusion that turned to awe as the feast appeared on the golden dishes all the way up the table.

The Hogwarts Sorting Feast of 1977 was every bit as magnificent as any of the ones Harry had attended in his own time period. Hearing a familiar bark of laughter, he looked up and for the briefest second, hazel eyes lifted and connected with his own, frowning at the unfamiliar face, and then flickered back to Sirius, Peter and Remus, joining them in laughter at their own private joke.

Taking a chicken leg from the plate in front of him, and helping himself to roast potatoes, he began to eat slowly, feeling the alternating, confused eyes of the Marauders on him at irregular intervals. He stopped only once before he was finished, to answer a question that one of the new students asked him about how the food appeared, and when he _was_ finished with his dinner, he gave the Headmaster an inquiring glance, and upon receiving a discreet nod in return, he stood and left the Great Hall, heading for the Gryffindor common room.

-------

The password to Gryffindor tower was _gubraithian fire_, as Professor McGonagall had told him before the students arrived. He gave the password to the Fat Lady when prompted, and then entered the common room, wondering for only a moment at how it would manage not to change at all in the next twenty years.

Wandering up to the dormitory indicated as _Seventh Year Boys_, he sat down on his new bed – located where Ron's would be in the future – and took out one of his new course books; the Defence Against the Dark Arts one.

Flipping to the section on advanced shielding charms, he sat engrossed in the text and illustrations until the door opened and the sound of boisterous voices came through it.

'Hello, Blackmoon,' his former professor's younger-self said, a cheerful smile on his face.

Harry looked up and nodded in acknowledgement. 'Hi, Lupin,' he answered. 'Who're your friends?'

Remus shot him a slightly devilish grin. 'You've not heard of the infamous Marauders?' he asked. 'I'd have thought that Professor Fleming would've had you running for cover at the sight of us.' He gestured to the three boys behind him. 'This is Pete – Peter Pettigrew -, and these two are Sirius T. Black and James M. Potter.' He then leaned closer and cupped one of his hands at the side of his mouth, as if to hide his lips' movements, and stage-whispered, 'Sirius and James are the ones you really need to look out for, especially if you find out that the M and the T stand for Mar-'

James marched up to Harry's bed with a pillow that he'd grabbed off Sirius' bed, and whacked Remus in the side with it, effectively silencing him. 'Silence, knave!' he cried, 'Still your treacherous tongue!'

Remus, in retaliation, stole Harry's pillow and thumped James back, and Sirius joined in not long afterwards. Soon, the three of them lay heaped in a pile of grinning and sniggering bodies, while Harry and Wormtail laughed.

After a moment, James propped himself up, elbowing Sirius in the stomach in the process. 'Sorry, Pads,' he said in reply to his best friend's soft "oof", and then he looked straight at Harry. 'So, you know our names – now it's only fair that you tell us yours.'

Harry's mouth twisted in a half-smile, holding back laughter at the expression on his future-father's face. 'Hello, James Potter,' he said formally, offering his hand, 'I am Harry. Harry Blackmoon. Your Professor Fleming's new charge.'

James leant forward to take the offered hand and shake it, but fell backwards onto Sirius and Remus. Trying again, he sat up properly and grasped onto Harry's hand, causing a slight thrill to run through the younger boy's body.

'Where'd you come from, anyway?' he asked, not letting go.

Harry grimaced and shrugged, wishing that Eir had been prepared to go over a cover story for him. 'Can we talk about something else?' he asked in a slightly strangled voice.

James, Sirius and Peter all frowned, and James's smile became more fixed as he dropped Harry's hand. 'If you want,' he said.

-------

'I don't trust him,' Harry heard James say to Sirius, Remus and Peter later that night, when he was pretending to be asleep.

Sirius grunted in what he could only assume was agreement, and then he heard a quiet squeak of protest. 'I think he's okay, Prongs,' Wormtail said, Harry's eyebrows shot up, and he was suddenly glad that he had his back to them. He certainly hadn't expected Wormtail's approval, especially when James and Sirius seemed to be so determinedly against him.

'Pete's right, James,' Remus said solemnly. 'So he doesn't want to talk about his home – there could be a _thousand_ reasons for that, without turning him into some sort of twisted villain. Why expect the worst of him when you don't even know him?'

An indecipherable grumble sounded in the dormitory, probably from James, and Harry winced at the resentment in his tone. Remus sighed, defeated.

Deciding that he definitely didn't want to hear any more of this conversation, he closed his eyes and gave a sleepy mutter, turning over. A hush fell over his four dorm-mates, until Remus said, 'You can stay up all night talking about this if you want, but my mind is made up. I'm going to bed.'

Harry heard two sighs, and the sound of closing curtains, and then the dormitory was silent.


	7. Chapter 7: Growing Pains

Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to HPfreakout for being the first reviewer.

Miss Moony would also like to thank Kaaera, war-pigs, lilyflower01, Toki Mirage, Fk306 animelover, Anthea, Antanaqui and Unknown-Dreams for reviewing.

To Anthea: There's a H/J community at livejournal called jphp(underscore)slash, and there's quite a lot of stuff there, even if quite a lot of it is NC-17. And all those fics get put in the Unspeakable archive at http/devoted. to/ hpxjp (obviously, you need to remove the spaces first, though). Glad you like the fic, and thank you, because I take great pride in my spelling and grammar.

To Kaaera: Umm… I can't remember what's going to happen about the cover story, actually. But thanks for your input, as always.

To Toki Mirage: Sadly, no. I'm not a big Snape fan. One of the reasons I was so delighted by HBP.

**Chapter warnings:** Time-travel

**Chapter summary:** Harry gets to know his mother, and James tries to prove that he really is growing up.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Chapter 7: Growing Pains**

'Okay, class,' Eir said, clapping her hands to bring her seventh year Potions class to attention. 'Today we'll be attempting to make the Draught of the Living Dead, and you'll be working with partners that _I'll_ be assigning.'

The brief murmur of excitement that bubbled up when she'd said they'd be working in pairs died down at this new revelation, and Eir took a moment to revel in the muttered complaints that her students were voicing to each other, and then she looked them all over swiftly and began to call out names. 'Black and Hart, Lupin and Snape, Henning and Keel, Fowler and Potter…'

She went on as Remus moved over to sit next to Snape, and a Ravenclaw boy called Jeremiah Fowler took his place next to James. Hart, a round-faced girl whose first name Harry wasn't sure of, had been sitting next to a Gryffindor girl who Harry recognised immediately as Lily Evans, his mother – she blushed faintly as Sirius grinned flirtatiously at her when she moved over to sit with him.

'Blackmoon and Evans,' Eir called out, and Harry met his mother's eyes and then stood, picking up his books and cauldron and moving across to the seat that Hart had just vacated.

'Hi,' he said, offering his hand and smiling. 'Lily Evans, right? I'm Harry.'

She grinned and accepted his hand, saying, 'I've heard. You're the one who managed to annoy Potter on the first day, aren't you? Congratulations.'

Harry laughed, and, looking fleetingly towards James and Fowler's desk, he noticed James staring in his direction murderously.

'Any good at this?' he asked Lily, facing her again and gesturing flippantly towards the Potions ingredients on the worktop.

She shrugged. 'I'm okay,' she said, smiling. 'Why?'

Harry grinned. 'Good thing, too,' he said, 'I'm not even sure how I managed to pass my Potions OWL.'

Lily laughed, and the two of them got to work.

-------

'Thanks,' Harry said to Eir, lingering behind as the rest of his classmates filed out of the Dungeon.

Eir smiled at him, and accepted his thanks graciously. 'I knew you wanted to get to know _both_ of your parents, Harry. And this seemed to be a decent way to help you along, even if Mr. Potter doesn't look too happy about the arrangement.'

Harry had to crack a grin at that, and he left the Dungeon in good spirits, only to be caught by surprise when he was tackled in the corridor and pushed up against the wall by a snarling Sirius.

'What?' he snapped, now thoroughly irritated.

'Evans is James' girl, Blackmoon,' Sirius growled. 'Stay away from her.'

Frowning, Harry forcibly removed the front of his robes from Sirius' fist and pushed the older boy away from him slightly. Brushing imaginary lint off his robes and straightening up, he replied, 'I'm sorry, Sirius, but I was under the impression that Lily belonged to herself.'

Sirius bared his teeth in a very dog-like manner, but didn't respond as Harry strode away from him, throwing back over his shoulder, 'Oh, and, Sirius… I don't take well to threats.'

'You'd do better to leave her alone, though, if you want James to like you as much as you seem to.'

Harry froze, stiffening for a moment. 'What I _want_, Black, is none of your business. _You'd_ do better to remember that.'

-------

Upon reaching the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where the seventh year Care of Magical Creatures classes took place in this age, Harry heard someone call his name, and turned to see Lily beckoning him over to where she was sitting on the short wall around the hippogriff enclosure with Hart.

Smiling, he made his way over to join them, and sat himself on the other side of Lily.

'Hi, Harry. This is Alice Hart, my best friend.'

Harry reached across Lily and shook Alice's hand, suddenly noticing the similarities between her and Neville. _Alice Hart must have become Alice Longbottom after leaving school_, he thought, and introduced himself just as Professor Kettleburn arrived and quieted the class before instructing them on the proper way to greet a hippogriff, and calling Peter up to demonstrate: apparently, he and a Hufflepuff girl called Judy Tillman were the star Care of Magical Creatures students, a position that had belonged to Sirius before he ditched the class in favour of Divination with James, whose mother hoped that he had inherited the seer abilities that ran in her family.

-------

That night was the first full moon since Harry had arrived in the past, and as Harry feigned a deep sleep, he listened to the sounds of Sirius, James and Peter sneaking out under the Invisibility cloak, and their hushed curses as they tripped over various things that were strewn about the room.

As soon as they were gone, though, he moved over to the window, and spent the night watching three large shadows traipse around the lake, with a smaller one that was almost undetectable to the human eye.


	8. Chapter 8: Beating Back

Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to Toki Mirage for being the first reviewer.

Miss Moony would also like to thank iblameteraspawn, Baku, marina-potter, Hessel, MorganWolfe666, Fk306 animelover, xxStarDreamerxx, Silver-Entrantress-Elf, HPfreakout, Antanaqui, Kaaera, shazia Born confused, curius, Inu-Angel Z and Unknown-Dreams for reviewing.

To iblameteraspawn: Wow, thanks. I don't know if I already said it or not, but the name Blackmoon was taken from a fic I read ages ago, and haven't been able to find, so it's not quite _that_ original, but I agree that there are way too many Jamesons out there (Pattersons, too, and I am guilty off adding to that particular problem). Thanks for the feedback, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

To Toki Mirage: Umm… Harry/James. Eventually. Didn't I already say that somewhere?

To shazia Born confused: Er… Sirius knows something? Umm… not sure what, actually. Will need to go back and check. (Rereads) Ooh, you mean the comment about James, right? He just means that he's noticed that Harry's trying unusually hard to seem unfazed by James' dislike, and is failing miserably.

To Inu-Angel Z: Naturally.

To curius: Glad you like it. Especially considering that it's the first of eleven fics in a series (even if nine of them _are_ one-shots, and the other is only five chapters).

**Chapter warnings:** Time-travel, mild cursing

**Chapter summary:** Harry lets James and Sirius' taunts get to him, and he tries out for the Quidditch team.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Chapter 8: Beating Back**

Harry looked up from his homework as James stood up in front of the portrait hole and clapped his hands, bringing the room to attention.

Lily snorted and rolled her eyes in disdain. 'What does he want _now_?' she muttered to Harry and Alice.

'Quidditch tryouts have been scheduled for this Saturday,' James called out, causing many exited whispers to break out around the room. 'The only open position is Keeper, but we're also looking for a new reserve Beater. Thank you.'

'Wow,' Lily said dryly as he moved over to sit with the other Marauders, 'he actually said "_thank you"_ this time.'

Grinning, Harry turned to her and said, 'You know you like him really,' he said, 'or you wouldn't spend so much time talking about him.'

Alice snickered slightly as Lily opened her mouth to object, and then closed it again, her cheeks reddening. 'Do you fly?' Alice asked, drawing the conversation away from Lily's apparent attraction for James, much to the redheaded girl's obvious relief, as she leapt on this question enthusiastically.

'I used to play Seeker,' Harry told the two girls. 'But Fred and George – my best friend's older brothers – were always trying to teach me to play Beater when I stayed at their house.'

'Were you any good at it?' Alice asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

'I was okay, I guess,' Harry replied modestly. He'd been good, though not in the same league as the twins.

'Then it's decided,' she said, hearing his answer and sitting up straight, excitement showing in her inability to stay still. 'You'll come down to the pitch with Lily and I on Saturday, and try out for the team.'

Harry began to object, but was cut off by Lily, who placed leaped to her feet, patted him on the head in a condescending manner, and then packed up her work and headed up to the dormitories, followed shortly by Alice, who called back, 'Be there!' before she left.

-------

'What was that about? With Evans?' James asked Harry as soon as the younger boy entered the dormitory to get ready for bed.

'Alice wants me to try out on Saturday,' Harry said, assuming that that was what they meant, in an unconcerned manner.

'She was blushing – Evans, I mean. Why was she blushing?' James demanded, glaring furiously at Harry.

Harry gave him an odd look, and raised one eyebrow. 'I told her she was being obvious,' he answered.

'About what?' James now wanted to know.

'Her _crush_.'

'Crush? Crush on who?' James was looking slightly dubious now.

Harry frowned, getting tired of this line of questioning. 'What is this? The Spanish Inquisition?' he snapped. 'Just leave me alone, why don't you?'

Looking rather stunned at the little outburst from the usually calm and collected Harry Blackmoon, James didn't object as Harry pushed him to the side and strode over to his bed, promptly collapsing on it, fully prepared to go to sleep, until he was interrupted by Sirius' disbelieving voice.

'Quidditch? _You?_'

Harry sat up, feeling rather insulted. 'I'm not _that_ bad at it,' he said. 'And besides, I'm not going to try out, anyway.'

A malicious glint in his eye, Sirius said, 'Why not? Scared you'll embarrass yourself in front of your little _girlfriend_, Blackmoon?'

'I don't _want_ to, dumbarse. Did you understand that, or do I need to use smaller words?'

'Ooh, the snake has a backbone,' James laughed, looking delighted at this new, deeper rift between Harry and Sirius.

'I'm sure,' Sirius said sarcastically, in response to Harry's earlier comment, and ignoring the jibe at his intelligence. 'I'll bet you're scared, aren't you?'

His eyes flashing angrily, Harry denied the accusation furiously, only to be caught when Sirius said only a beat later, 'Prove it, then. Come to the tryouts on Saturday and _prove_ you're not a coward.'

'Fine!'

The door creaked open and Peter and Remus crept in cautiously, looking from Sirius and James' smug expressions to Harry's own beetroot-coloured face. 'Is there something going on up here? Because we could hear the yelling from the common room.'

'No,' Harry said sharply, shooting one last glare at his father and godfather, and then jerking his curtains closed and flopping back on his bed, determinedly ignoring everything he could hear the Marauders discussing on the other side of them.

-------

The first match of the Season was Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. Harry, decked out in the red and gold of the Gryffindor Quidditch uniform, watched the match from the bleachers, waiting for either Sirius or Sam Howell – a fifth year – to be injured, in which case he would take their place in the game.

James, Alice and Judith Lippanser, a fourth-year, were scoring goals left, right and centre, and the Ravenclaw Keeper was struggling to keep up with the three of them. The new Gryffindor Keeper, Elspeth Jenkins, was playing a sloppy game, though, and despite the disorganisation of the Ravenclaw Chasers, the two teams were evenly matched. The game was now turning into a war between Seekers.

Spotting the snitch hovering near the grass by the Ravenclaw goalposts, Harry looked on in disbelief as Thomas Greene shot off towards the other end of the pitch, followed shortly by the Ravenclaw Seeker. _There's no_ way_ he could've not seen _that he thought, glancing between the bewildered Seekers and the badly hidden snitch, which seemed to be damaged, considering that it wasn't going _nearly_ as fast as it did in his time.

Alice scored again, sending cheers up through the Gryffindor stands, and then the Ravenclaw Seeker sped away again, this time heading towards the right-most hoop, where the snitch was. Harry looked up at the two players eagerly, hoping that Anna Thornley's choice of direction wasn't just fluke – a fear that was proven to be baseless as her hand closed over the snitch and was then raised in triumph.

The final score was 310-170 to Ravenclaw. The Ravenclaws cheered, the Gryffindors groaned, and James was fuming as he screamed at Greene.

Harry, tiring of this, clapped Alice on the shoulder and congratulated her, then went into the locker rooms to change back into his school uniform.


	9. Chapter 9: Changing Times

Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to Kaaera for being the first reviewer.

Miss Moony would also like to thank Twin Tails Speed, animegurl088, shazia Born confused, Fk306 animelover, JuMiKu, Toki Mirage and Unknown-Dreams for reviewing.

To Kaaera: Umm… I can't really remember, as I haven't looked very far ahead in my brainstorm in a while. But I don't think Greene'll get kicked off the team.

To shazia Born confused: Err… he made the team, as a reserve beater.

To Toki Mirage: I don't think so.

Nothing particularly significant happens in this chapter, except that we get introduced to some new characters, most of which will feature in the sequels (though Nick, the central character in _Fingers_, will not be appearing until chapter 18 – _Lion-Heart_). Also, I couldn't think of many scenes to put in, so they're all quite short, and the chapter's only 610 words, rather than the usual 1000 plus.

**Chapter warnings:** Time-travel

**Chapter summary:** Back in the future, memories are resurfacing in Dumbledore's ancient mind, Lily, Frank and Alice visit Hogwarts, alive and sane, and Ron and Hermione can't recall that they ever had a friend called Harry.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Chapter 9: Changing Times**

'Mum!' Neville Longbottom called out, running across the lawn of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and hugging Alice tightly.

Laughing, she patted him on the back slightly. 'Congratulations on your O, Neville,' she said, beaming with pride, her sentiments echoed by both Lily and Frank.

Neville blushed, and then looked up at the trio curiously. 'What are you doing here, anyway?' he asked.

'I've come to see Headmaster Dumbledore,' Lily told him. 'Apparently Flitwick's retiring. Your Mum and Dad tagged along to visit you and Gareth.'

'Speaking of Gareth, where is he?' Frank asked his son, and Neville pointed in the direction of the lake.

'He's revising for the Defence Against the Dark Arts test tomorrow. With Draco and Hermione.'

Neville tugged on Frank and Alice's hands, and dragged them away, and, smiling to herself, Lily continued towards the school.

-------

Pacing his office, Professor Dumbledore waited for Lily Evans to arrive. Professor Flitwick had been hoping to retire for a few years now, and Lily was the obvious choice for his replacement: Governor's Award for Charms in her time at Hogwarts, and she'd had the highest NEWT score that had been seen at Hogwarts in _years_.

He heard a knock on the door, and feeling the castle's confirmation that she had arrived, he sat down behind his desk and said calmly, 'Come in, Miss Evans.' Lily smiled at him when she entered, and took a seat opposite him.

It was a while before Dumbledore spoke. He was examining her thoroughly, instead, and pausing when he noticed her bright green eyes, he remembered the only other person he'd seen with the same ones: Harry Potter-Blackmoon, Defeater of the Dark Lord.

He smiled fondly, and began to talk.

-------

Bursting in on their revision session, a mousy fifth year boy darted up to his foster brother and his friends, followed shortly by Ron Weasley. 'Draco,' he said, 'Grandma Eir said to tell you that Potions started ten minutes ago.'

Hermione frowned. 'What are _you_ doing out of class, then, Damon?'

Damon grinned, hopping from foot to foot. 'I'm on Study Leave, remember. For the OWLs.'

Draco scowled at his brother's irrepressible cheer, and leaned over and whispered something in Hermione's ear. She rolled her eyes and got to her feet, dragging Draco with her, and the Longbottom brothers and Ron followed her back inside the castle, with Damon Potter still tagging along behind, saying, 'Did you see the _Prophet_ this morning? They've finally arrested Snape. Dad and Uncle Frank and Uncle Sirius are _really _relieved about it. Dad said he _went to school_ with Snape, too. That must've been _horrible_, don't you think, Draco? Draco? Are you listening to me?'

-------

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger had never really got on well. That is, until fifth year, when Hermione's best friend Draco had decided to set them up. They still bickered and argued, sometimes even worse than they had before, but at least now there were quiet, comfortable periods in between, when Draco could just relax and spend time with both of them without suffering through their cold, harsh silences or their deafening arguments.

It wasn't something he'd expected, to be honest, – his matchmaking plan succeeding, that is – since he could truthfully say that he was one of the wizarding world's worst ever romance experts (a habit he'd picked up from his Da, as both his Dad and Gareth Longbottom would grudgingly confirm).

If his Father could see him now, he knew, spending time with a blood traitor and a mudblood, he'd have a coronary. But Draco was happy this way, and, in the end, that was all that mattered.


	10. Chapter 10: Victory March

Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to Toki Mirage for being the first reviewer.

Miss Moony would also like to thank Idril831, xxStarDreamerxx, rini, shazia Born confused, ashibabi, Kaaera, JuMiKu, iyfanatic, Fk306 animelover and pazed for reviewing.

To iyfanatic: Umm… all will be explained in good time. So, err… I'm not telling _quite_ yet.

To Kaaera: You're _supposed_ to be confused, at this point. And it won't be cleared up quite yet, but, still… not too long to wait (I hope – I've been having to force the chapters out recently, and it doesn't help that I've suddenly started getting plotbunnies for _Target X_, _Darkness Becomes You_ and _Behind the Black Veil_, rather than any fic which I've already started _posting._ Meh).

To JuMiKu: Almost.

To ashibabi: (laughs) Wierd, huh?

To xxStarDreamerxx: (Starts in alarm) What's wrong?

**Chapter warnings:** Time-travel

**Chapter summary:** Lily and James are an item. Officially. Eir is a closet Lycanthropes' Rights Activist, and Voldemort has plans for Hogsmeade.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Chapter 10: Victory March**

'Wow,' Harry said, after staying silent through his not-yet-mother's announcement as Alice just gaped. 'I never thought you'd actually get 'round to the "going out" part of your relationship with James.'

Lily, taking this as an insult, turned an unbecoming shade of scarlet, and promptly snapped at him, 'I'm not _completely_ incompetent at love-related matters.' She sniffed. 'He's taking me to Hogsmeade this weekend as our first date.'

Recovering from her state of shock, Alice stuttered out (reminding Harry greatly of her future son), 'Wait a second. Could you please clarify this for me? How, exactly, did you end up accepting _James Potter's_ offer of a Hogsmeade date? You hate him, remember?'

Calming down by this point, Lily said, 'He's not been so bad this year. He hasn't hexed anyone in _weeks_. I really think he might be growing up.'

'I've noticed the same thing,' Harry said, shrugging, and Lily looked at him in relief.

'You're not going to ditch me, then, for going out with a guy who seems to despise you?' she asked.

Harry raised an eyebrow. 'Why would I do _that?_ We're _friends_, remember? And James isn't so bad, when he doesn't know I'm there.' His response drew a chuckle out of both the girls sitting around the fireplace with him.

Passing by, said James Potter paused on his way up to the dormitories to watch the "new boy's" interaction with his new girlfriend, a frown gracing his features.

''Night, Lily,' he said, placing a hand on her shoulder to get her attention, then nodding at Alice and deliberately ignoring Harry after giving him one short, strange look, he said, 'Hart.'

Lily twisted her head around and looked up at him with a wide smile. 'Goodnight, James,' she said.

-------

That Saturday, Harry just watched with a warm mug of tea cradled in his hands as Eir pottered around the lab, fetching and carrying various potions ingredients and explained her experiment to Harry.

'It's supposed to help the transformations, and lessen the danger to people,' she said. 'The real trouble is creating a stable potion that will help the werewolf to keep its mind, which won't react unfavourably with any of the painkilling potions. If I can't manage that, then I either have to find a new painkiller, or the whole thing will come crashing down around me.'

Harry nodded, just about following her explanation, and she finished by saying, 'And I can't make it easier by adding aconite or silver nitrate, since they'd cause too many allergic reactions.'

Not understanding this at all, Harry frowned. 'But I've seen this potion in the future, and if there's no aconite, then how come it's called the Wolfsbane Potion?'

'It's called the Wolfsbane Potion in your time?' Eir repeated, looking troubled.

Harry nodded.

Frowning, she said, 'Well, I don't see how that would work… unless…'

And she trailed off, looking puzzled, then jumped suddenly when her cauldron started to boil over, rushing over to it and upturning a vial of painkilling potion over the mixture.

The potion exploded violently, and both Harry and Eir ducked out of the room, choking and covered in smelly brown gloop. 'I left it unattended for too long,' Eir said in response to Harry's questioning look. 'That's why it reacted so violently.'

Sighing, she looked inside her ingredients cabinet, and shook her head. 'I need to restock on ingredients. Fancy joining me on a trip to Hogsmeade?'

-------

Which is why, only half an hour later, Harry and the Hogwarts Potions Mistress found themselves exiting the Hogsmeade apothecary with an overflowing bag of ingredients carried in each hand. All of the students had returned to Hogwarts by this time, and that included Lily and James, who had been acting so lovey-dovey in the last few days that it made Harry feel irritated for some reason that he was only just on the verge of realising.

Perked up, Eir practically bounced along the street, only to stumble and fall when someone screamed. Automatically, Harry pulled Eir back up and shoved his bags into her hands, then took off for the source of the scream.

A white-masked figure in long black robes stood there, wand extended, surrounded by others in similar attire. A woman, looking shell-shocked, was the one who had screamed, seeing the dead body of her companion – her husband, maybe – lying in the dusty street.

There was shocked silence for a moment, and then all hell broke loose. People were screaming and running all over the place like headless chickens.

A few of the braver witches and wizards tried shooting a few spells towards the Dark Lord's followers as soon as they had clear shots, but most of the spells did little to repel the Death Eaters. Harry, shoving his way through the crowd, seized the elbow of one woman and shouted over the almost deafening noise, 'Alert the Aurors!'

She nodded, terror in her eyes, and didn't even question his right to be giving orders in this situation. Then she darted towards the Three Broomsticks, presumably to use their Floo port.

'_Expecto patronum!_' Harry cried out, sending Prongs off to the school to summon Dumbledore in the customary way of the Order. He could only hope that the Headmaster would come, since he wasn't familiar with Harry's stag patronus.

Resuming his path towards the Death Eaters, he shot off stunners whenever he felt there was the least risk of hitting a bystander, and – slowly – he came within duelling range of the group.

For Harry, it was a long few minutes before the Aurors and the Order arrived, filled with volleys of light and dark curses, and a fierce rush of adrenaline which numbed the pain where a slashing curse had cut deeply into his left arm, which now hung uselessly by his side.

'Get out of here, Blackmoon!' McGonagall ordered him when she arrived, and Harry, too tired to argue, merely nodded, and let Eir drag him back towards Hogwarts.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Author's Notes:** I'm thinking here, that in JK's timeline, Eir would've died in the attack, so leaving the Potions spot open, and her research on Wolfsbane incomplete. It wouldn't've been picked up for a few years, which would explain why the Potion never helped Remus much until Harry was in school. These things take a long time to develop, especially when considering that helping werewolves isn't really a high-interest area, so not many people would be interested in carrying on, and that when Eir died, her understanding of the Potion died with her. The chapter title comes from Rufus Wainwright's beautiful song, 'Hallelujah': the phrase is "Love is not a victory march". What you make of that is up to you.


	11. Chapter 11: Confrontations

Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to iyfanatic for being the first reviewer.

Miss Moony would also like to thank PaddycakePadfoot, imakeeper, supersticiousmonkey89, FairyQilan, DeAtHsTeNsHi, Kaaera, female half – breed, maliaphire, rini, SakuraKino, Fk306 animelover and angeltread for reviewing.

To iyfanatic: Don't worry, no one saw the patronus.

To maliaphire: No way! That's just James' perception of the situation.

To angeltread: Are you starting a campaign? Because this fic isn't going to involve much more Quidditch anyway.

And also, cookies for everyone who prodded me to finish writing this chapter. I hope it won't disappoint.

**Chapter warnings:** Time-travel

**Chapter summary:** Harry meets Snape, and goes to see Dumbledore. Remus recovers from the full moon, and Harry pays a visit.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Chapter 11: Confrontations of the Revealing Kind**

It wasn't until the afternoon after the next Hogsmeade trip that Harry ran into another familiar face. He, Lily and Alice burst into the Entrance Hall in gales of laughter. They had met up with the Marauders briefly in the Three Broomsticks, which had put a damper on both Harry and Alice's spirits, as they watched Lily and James together, though Harry still hadn't been able to determine why.

They had both cheered up, however, when they were joined by Remus, who had at once begun to regale them with anecdotes of the various pranks he'd participated in. It hadn't been long before Lily had come over to see what all the fuss was about, and the three of them were still laughing when they reached the castle.

'Watch it, mudblood!' a greasy-haired Slytherin boy snarled as Lily stumbled into him. Harry examined him closely, sensing something sinister about him, and then his eyes widened in sudden recognition. He had been in his parents' time for so long without seeing this particular Slytherin that he'd almost forgotten that Severus Snape existed.

Suddenly furious, Alice snapped back, 'Don't call her Mudblood, Snape!'

He sneered, casting an appraising eye over the three of them, and his gaze paused when he spotted Harry. 'Well, well, Hart, what have we here? The new boy? Once again, you seem to have proven that you have abominable taste in companions.' To Harry, he said, 'You're a mudblood, too, aren't you? I've never heard the name Blackmoon before.'

'Second generation half-blood, actually,' Harry replied coolly, though inside he was fuming – it seemed that the snarky Potions Master Harry knew in his own time hadn't matured at all since his teenage years.

Snape sniffed. 'You should choose your friends more carefully, then, Blackmoon,' he drawled. 'If you carry on associating with the blood traitor and the Mudblood, then you'll be a leper to more _respectable_ members of society.'

Harry's nostrils flared and his hand twitched for his wand, but he needn't have bothered. A split second after Snape finished speaking, Lily cried 'Don't!' to no avail, and Alice's hand flew out. With a sickening crunch, Snape fell to the ground, blood streaming out of his large, crooked nose, and Alice stood over him, looming ominously.

'You insult my friends again, Snape,' she hissed out, 'and a broken nose will be the least of your troubles.'

Harry nodded in agreement to her words, and then added quietly, 'And count yourself lucky that it's just a broken nose _this _time: I would have done something _much_ worse.'

Snape scrambled to his feet, and scowled at all three of them, but beat a hasty retreat, alternately clutching his nose and his forearm, and clearly heading towards the hospital wing to get it healed.

As soon as he was out of sight, Lily rounded on them, demanding to know what they had been thinking, and Harry was reminded for a brief moment of Hermione.

'You know, he's lucky, really,' Harry told her, 'if he'd called you that in front of Potter, then there'd be hell to pay. And he shouldn't think it's okay to go around calling people that, as if he's better than them, just because of his blood.'

'Well, congratulations, Harry,' Lily snapped at him, her voice laced with sarcasm. 'You've just proven him right, haven't you?'

And on that note, she stormed away, leaving Harry gaping after her, and Alice looking suitably apologetic.

-------

'Professor?' Harry asked quietly, as he knocked on the door to the Headmaster's office. 'May I come in?'

The door swung open of its own accord, and Harry bit his lip, seeing Professor Dumbledore standing in front of him, his figure framed by the dying sunlight that still shone through his office window.

'Ah, Mr. Blackmoon,' the Professor said, for once genuinely surprised as he ushered Harry into the office. 'What seems to be bothering you today?'

Harry bit his lip slightly, took a seat before Professor Dumbledore's desk, and then blurted out, 'Is Snape a spy for the Order?'

Professor Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. 'Now why would you ask that?'

'I bumped into him in the Entrance Hall. He was clutching his forearm - where the Dark Mark is. And he was-' he shook his head, clearing it '-will be your spy in my time.'

'Hmm...' was the first repsonse that Professor Dumbledore offered. Then, after a pause, he said, 'No, Mr. Snape is not a member of the Order. I will, however, keep this information in mind. Lemon drop?'

Harry smiled, politely declined the offered sweet, and then left the office, quietly closing the door behind him.

-------

The only thing that Harry really had left to do that day was something he'd promised himself he'd do a while ago, and then chickened out of: confronting Lupin. The previous night had been a full moon, and, as Harry was well aware, the werewolf was by this point being prodded at by Madam Pomfrey. Harry winced - he sympathised greatly.

The Hospital Wing was situated directly between Dumbledore's office and Gryffindor Tower, so Harry really had no excuse not to pay at least a short visit to his professor-turned-friend. And he would have to watch his words if he didn't want Lupin to think that he was being rejected.

'Mr. Blackmoon!' Madam Pomfrey exclaimed as he sidled through the door.

He winced. 'I- I was hoping that I could visit Lupin. Five minutes tops, I promise.'

The matron frowned. 'Mr. Lupin has returned home,' she said briskly, 'because his mother is ill.'

'I _know_,' Harry said, and something in his tone obviously told Madam Pomfrey that he was not referring to Lupin's mother's health. She pursed her lips.

'Very well,' she said after a moment's consideration. 'But mind that it really _is_ only five minutes, and if you upset him, then you'll have to leave. He's in the side room over there.' Harry nodded, and moved towards the door she was indicating, steeling himself.

He needn't have bothered, really, though, because when he opened the door, Lupin was staring right at him with scared blue eyes. Combined with the bandages wrapped all around him, they made him look rather pitiful.

'You... you know,' he croaked out. 'I heard you talking. D- do you hate me now?'

Harry closed his eyes, took a calming breath, and simply answered, 'No.'


	12. Chapter 12: Straight and Narrow

Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to VG Jekyll for being the 100th reviewer!

Miss Moony would also like to thank kNelly86, meangirl164, The Insane Immortal Dragon, Katsy15, I-Y-T-Y, sirius-harry-r-IN-love, FluffySmarts (twice), jka1, insanechildfanfic, Dadaiiro, Crazy-Little-Billabong, WhiteTwitch, alwaysariyana, imakeeper, utahtoken, moonlight guardian, DeAtHsTeNsHi, Twin Tails Speed, wiccan-jessica, FairyQilan, Kaaera, lilyseyes27, crazy-lil-nae-nae, PaddycakePadfoot, iyfanatic and Solo Maxwell-Yamato for reviewing.

**Chapter warnings:** Time-travel, slash, incest

**Chapter summary:** Sirius is angry and Harry is spiteful. James is upset and Harry is gay.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Chapter 12: Not Quite the Straight and Narrow**

Upon his entry to the common room, Remus had been promptly cornered by his three best friends, who wanted to enquire after his wellbeing. They received the standard response – a smile, and a quiet assurance that he was fine, now that he was out from under Madam Pomfrey's all-too-watchful eye.

Sirius, James and Peter all laughed, but that was when something rather less ordinary occurred.

Remus went silent for a moment, and then blurted out, 'Blackmoon came to see me. While I was recovering, that is.'

Their laughter died, leaving an ominous silence in the wake of his declaration. James went pale. Peter started fidgeting. Sirius looked almost feral.

'How- how could he have been _able_ to see you?' James asked, flabbergasted. 'How did he get past Madam Pomfrey?'

'This means he _knows_, right?' Peter's voice was quiet and horrified. 'I- I…-' he shook his head, clearing it. 'What did he _say_, Moony?'

Remus opened his mouth to answer, but was cut short when Sirius stood up suddenly. Remus frowned. 'What's wrong?' he asked, but received no answer: Sirius had already stormed out of the room.

-------

'Oi! Blackmoon!'

Harry turned around, wiping his still-damp hands on his robes. He stared blankly for a moment, taking in Sirius' furious expression with no small amount of confusion.

'What did I do _this_ time?' he asked eventually – Sirius, if possible, looked even more enraged when he heard it.

'What do you want?' he demanded. 'From Remus, that is.'

Harry blinked, and then blinked again. _Sirius,_ he thought, _doesn't give anyone the benefit of the doubt. _And then-_ Why is he asking me this, anyway? Didn't Lupin tell him that I was okay with everything?_

'I want to be his friend,' Harry answered simply, and then made to leave the bathroom – Sirius, snarling, grabbed his arm, halting him before he could take a step.

'You so much as _touch_ him and you're _dead_, Blackmoon – I don't care about consequences.'

Wrenching his arm out of the older boy's grip, Harry replied, 'You're not doing him any favours, behaving like this. If I hadn't completely meant it when I told Lupin that I meant him no harm, then I would have been tempted to test that promise of yours.'

There was silence for a moment, and when Harry looked around, Sirius' head was slightly slumped, his arms hanging limply at his sides. 'You really mean it?' he asked, and Harry's eyes widened when he realised that Sirius' voice was hoarse. 'That you won't hurt him?'

'Uh-huh,' Harry said, nodding, though Sirius couldn't see the movement. 'I want to be his friend. But the _real_ question is, do you trust me enough to let me try?'

Sirius shrugged, still scowling at his feet. 'Do what you want,' he said, before leaving the room.

-------

By the time Greene escaped from his talk with James, he was practically spitting with rage. The first half of the practice session had gone just as expected – dismally, and more than a little of that was due to the seeker.

'Need to get your eyes checked, Greene?' Sirius jibed, not bothering to hide the large smirk on his face. 'Why don't you go to Fleming? She'll fix it for you.'

Greene just glared. 'Thanks but no thanks, Black,' he said tersely, 'I'd actually rather _not_ go blind, if it's all the same to you.'

Sirius snickered into his palm, just as Harry spoke up. 'He has a point, you know – I saw that snitch almost 10 minutes before you did.'

The fourth-year rounded on Harry with a snarl. 'You were on the _ground_ – it's much easier to see from there.'

'Actually,' Harry stated simply. 'as long as you're not in the clouds (which you _weren't_), then it's easier to find the snitch from the air – why do you _think_ Potter always makes you circle so high?'

'FINE!' Greene screamed, red in the face. 'WE'LL GAME-DUEL! AFTER PRACTICE!'

He stormed out of the locker-room dramatically – or tried to, at least: he was blocked in the doorway by James, who had probably been drawn to the noise in much the same way that a moth was drawn to an open flame. It was a good thing, Harry noted absently, that this flame didn't burn.

Sirius, gaping slightly, managed to stutter out, 'Hey, Greene – I don't think Blackmoon was trying to challenge you.'

James' eyes glinted with amusement, as he began to puzzle out the situation. 'Or,' he added softly, 'are _you _challenging _Blackmoon_, for his… substitute beater position?'

'BE THERE!' Greene yelled – presumably at Harry – before pushing angrily past James, and heading out to the pitch.

There was a long silence between the remaining team-members, and Harry looked over at Alice, who was trembling slightly. 'Are you okay?' he whispered to her in concern, only to be taken aback when she burst into giggles.

'That idiot,' she said. 'He won't know what hit him.' Calming down, and meeting Harry's eyes, she added, 'Game-duels are competitions between team-members, to see if someone else is better suited for a position. The name is stupid, I know – Potter came up with it in fifth-year.'

James scowled at the two of them, and the rest of the team laughed – Greene was forgotten, for the time-being.

-------

It seemed almost as if Harry was the only one unsurprised by James' request to talk to him after practice. Alice frowned, before marching away to walk back to the castle with Lily, who had come down to the pitch with Lupin, at Sirius' urging, in order to see the game-duel between Harry and Greene.

James, leaning against the bottom of the Gryffindor stands, alternated between staring at Lily, and staring at Harry, before Harry actually decided to approach him. 'Congratulations on making seeker,' he forced out, looking torn between glee at the idea of finally getting a decent player in the position, and resentment, simply because he and Harry had never managed to get along.

All that Harry offered in return for his words was a single, completely fake smile.

Neither of them spoke for a while, and James' head shot around to look at Lily and Alice again – they had their backs turned, and their heads together, giggling over something-or-other that Harry decided that he probably wouldn't understand, even had he known what it was.

'Stay away from her,' James said eventually. 'Stay away from my girlfriend. I put too much effort into this relationship to let you ruin it now.'

Harry blinked in surprise – many theories had run through his mind about what James wanted to talk about, but this certainly hadn't been one of them.

'Potter,' he said after a moment of consideration.

James' eyes narrowed. 'What?' he snapped.

Harry paused for a moment, before grabbing the front of James' school jumper in his fist, and pressing the older boy's lips against his own. 'I'm gay,' he stated, and then walked away from his flabbergasted captain, the taste of licorice still lingering in his mouth.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Author's Notes:** Post-practice scene inspired a cookie from the SS Expelliarmus Cookie Jar (Harry/Zacharias) at SCUSA – it was by Nightrunner. Also, you may notice that I have given in to the make-Harry-seeker section – hope you like!


	13. Chapter 13: Addicted to

Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to imakeeper for being the first reviewer.

Miss Moony would also like to thank Twin Tails Speed, Killer-Squirrels-Are-Coming, new moongirl, Padfoot2446, Moonylovesme, FluffySmarts, criesofthefallen, Kathrina CH, Toki Mirage, crystal tears of betrayal, Katsy16, fireyhell, TheEveningStar, Anave Lipad, lysryu, JameseMalfoy, Jack of Trade, jka1, Shadow315, Insane Immortal Dragon Goddess, amethyst sylph, websurffer, Syumu (AKA Mitsukie M.), zaza, Dadaiiro, Black-Dranzer-1119, I-Y-T-Y, Heiki Storm, AquaRias, trop, amaris-sohma, shampoo147, dsilvis22, licorice hater, Janette Salinas, AmunRa02, Silver-Enchantress-Elf, Moonsign, FamilyRose, black lilyrose, Snake of Medusa, TanyaPotter, Sen2TOS9, PreciousLily, Slate Grey, Novocain, Alixa Elizabeth Hufflepuff, starz4evr, BonbonJovi, Maxamilliaons, Dutchfan, Anissina June, and SemiAngel8 for reviewing.

**Chapter warnings:** Time-travel, slash, incest

**Chapter summary:** James is addicted to aniseed, and Remus knows why.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Chapter 13: Addicted to…**

Slowly but surely, the Autumn term stumbled to a halt – Harry said goodbye to Lily and Alice at Hogsmeade station, wrapped in a woolly scarf and a thick winter cloak, glancing smugly at Remus, who could barely move under his five home-knitted jumpers.

Sirius bounded over to the three friends, with the rest of the Marauders following at a much more subdued pace, and James looking positively dubious about even approaching Harry at all. Harry's smile dimmed slightly, and he carefully avoided the older boy's stubborn stare as James quickly pecked Lily on the cheek, and wished her a happy Christmas in advance. She smiled, and stood on tiptoes to kiss him back before hugging him around his neck.

The moment dragged on, and when the couple showed no signs of moving, Alice cleared her throat assertively. Lily dropped down to the ground and allowed herself to be led onto the train by Alice, waving back at them sheepishly all the while. Peter trudged along behind them miserably, shooting frequent conspicuous glances over his shoulder at his friends, still reluctant to leave on his own.

Sirius waved pointedly, as Peter finally stepped onto the train, just in time for the whistle. The four who remained – Harry, James, Remus and Sirius – stood side by side, and watched until the train was out of sight before heading back to the castle, feeling suitably subdued after the goodbyes.

-------

Harry spent the couple of days before Christmas alternating between chats with Remus about his friends, and spending time with Eir as she pored over old texts that might possibly have a method of neutralising the poison of aconite in them. He'd mentioned the potion to Remus one time, but the tense, disappointed look on his face made Harry realise that such things must have been tried before, with little in the way of results. Remus appeared to have lost hope that there would ever be a potion that would be able to help him.

Harry patted Remus awkwardly on the shoulder, shifting in his seat, and Remus opened and closed his mouth a few times, probably casting his mind around for a new topic of conversation. 'You… you,' he said, appearing to have suddenly noticed something. 'You keep looking at James. Did something happen?'

Harry blinked, and then blushed furiously, realising that he _had_ been staring at James through the corner of his eye. Remus' jaw dropped at his reaction, and Harry just stared at him stupidly, floundering around for an excuse – though what exactly he was trying to excuse, he wasn't sure.

'I thought you fancied Evans,' Remus said eventually, snapping Harry out of his stupor.

'I don't like girls,' Harry shot back, suddenly defensive. 'Not like _that_, at least. But I don't… I don't fancy Potter, either. That would just be… wrong.'

He shuddered, to add effect, but Remus didn't look convinced. And so Harry gave up, for the time being. It didn't help that a small part of his mind was whispering to him, _Would it really?_

-------

'You should get him a present,' Remus had said on Christmas morning, while James and Sirius were still conked out from the large dinner the night before. 'He keeps saying he has a craving for licorice wands recently, but the Muggle alternative might be just as good. You have some in your trunk, don't you?'

Harry rolled over onto his side, giving Remus a disbelieving look. 'As if,' he said. 'It's aniseed, not licorice. And I'm not giving Potter my last bag. And besides, he's got a girlfriend, remember. _Lily_. So why're you trying to set us up?'

'Neither James nor Evans have been at _all_ interested in each other since the match with Ravenclaw, and I _know_ you've noticed that,' Remus stated, sticking his chin out stubbornly in a way that reminded Harry disconcertingly of himself. 'Consider this a… failsafe. If something happens between James and Evans, and we know that James is interested, then what's stopping you.'

Harry tensed his jaw, glaring mulishly right back. 'My sense of moral decency,' he said after a pause, and Remus was about to answer back when they heard the distinctive grunting noise of Sirius waking up.

'Mornin', Moony,' came a bleary greeting from the bed as Sirius drew his curtains back, stifling a yawn.

Remus chuckled quietly, turning away from Harry, and then said, 'I'm surprised you weren't up earlier, attacking the heap of presents in the common room. Your pile is definitely the biggest this year.'

Sirius, looking slightly more awake by this point, shot him a lop-sided grin. 'Must be the girls,' he said. 'Looks like James lost the popularity contest this year.'

By this point he was sporting a large smirk, and James – who had just woken up in time to hear the last comment – shot out of bed and downstairs before even bothering to put some slippers on.

Sirius wasted no time in darting after him, while both Harry and Remus followed at a more sedate pace, Remus rolling his eyes at the telltale cries of glee that his friends were making.

A little later, they all took turns opening presents, showing each one around before moving on to the next person, in the way that Harry had celebrated with Professor Lupin and the Order in his own time – Harry looked back on the single occasion fondly. And later still, when they all returned to the tower for the night, comfortably full after the large amounts of stuffed turkey they'd all consumed, James blinked at seeing the small paper bag lying on his pillow, with a thin red ribbon tied neatly around the neck.

He took one of the small, red sweets from the bag, and eyed it suspiciously, before licking it experimentally. 'Licorice,' he said, his eyes lighting up slightly.

And Harry, watching dozily through half-lidded eyes from beneath the covers of his own bed, allowed himself a smile.


	14. Chapter 14: Hero Complex

Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to black lilyrose for being the first reviewer.

Miss Moony would also like to thank Kamerreon, obsessivesyndrome, zephyr hb, akuma-chan0326, Cross – The Damned Alchemist, The Sleeping Creature, deathxofxthexbetrayed, xdreamlessxvoyeurx, evil-sami-poo, ladySerenity0000, lysryu, Novocain, shampoo147, dsilvis22, PaddycakePadfoot, Dadaiiro, Black-Dranzer-1119, Loveless-Rabbit, AmunRa02, number one fan, Fred kissed George, EnVyS pEt NeKo2, lilsteves, Kindali Sidera, Kath19, BonbonJovi, Tsumetai Taiyoukai, brightsidetolife, yaukira, ElsaGemma, The Cheeky Brat, Night Air, Mei, Tenshigami, Moonsign, sillya, Y-dO-u-CrY, Gooey Puddle, Saturnblue, insanechildfanfic, starz4evr, Marykay13, Tenma, Merciless-the-insane-cancerian, Avy-Snape, iLaNaLoUiSeMaLfOy, lounn, MistyMossflower, Fire of the lioness, L'uke-chan, Xylia Luna Orion, Chatwyn, lemmesee, choco-crush, CrayonsPink, PrincePotter, quickdrawslady, bluefynx, JameseMalfoy, Moonylovesme, berkie88, Killer-Squillers-Are-Coming, cyiusblack, StormDarkPhoenix, evil-sami-poo, SemiAngel8 and TanyaPotter for reviewing.

**Chapter warnings:** Time-travel, slash, incest

**Chapter summary:** Harry has a "saving-people-thing".

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Chapter 14: Hero-Complex**

Voldemort's second raid on Hogsmeade village was slightly less unexpected than the first. The Order had caught word of it a few weeks before it actually occurred, & several of the students who had Order members in the family had been reluctant to attend the last Hogsmeade weekend. Alice, however, was stubbornly acting as if she knew nothing, which was why she had dragged Harry and Lily out to the village to look at wedding dresses with her.

Marriage, Harry had decided as Alice tried on her twenty-somethingth dress, was a long, arduous and wholly unpleasant affair. And he was glad it wasn't something he'd ever be going through himself. Lily also appeared to be becoming increasingly miserable as the discarded dresses piled up all over the shop, but not because she was irritated by the amount of time this was taking, or because she'd been on her feet for hours and they were beginning to hurt, though either or both of these may have been true. It had taken a while, but finally Harry was beginning to understand the strange, wistful expression that Lily tried to hide whenever she looked at her best friend, and particularly at the shiny new engagement ring that Alice was wearing.

He opened his mouth and moved closer to his mother, hoping to start a whispered conversation with her, but was abruptly prevented from saying anything when Alice exited her cubicle again, chewing on her lip. 'Does this dress make me look fat?' she demanded, and peered back over her shoulder at her reflection.

Lily, smiling a little sadly, said, 'You're beautiful.' at the same time that Harry said (rather louder), 'You're not fat, Alice. And you won't look fat at the wedding unless you decide to live on pudding.'

Looking startled, both Lily and Alice gaped at him, Lily's own comment forgotten in their surprise. After a brief silence, Alice seemed to realise how that question had sounded, and flushed pink with embarrassment. Lily giggled, her mood seemingly lightened.

'I- I suppose,' Alice began to say, before she was interrupted by the sound of somebody screaming in the street. In another time, or another place, Harry might have dismissed it as a scream of anger, or frustration, but as it was, there was no mistaking that somebody in the village was genuinely afraid. And apparently it wasn't just one person: a moment later, the screams multiplied, and the three students began to hear people running.

Shoving Lily and Alice back into the changing rooms, Harry darted out of the dress shop, and into the streets. It was chaos. All along the crowded street, students and villagers alike were stampeding around, trying to get away from the masked and cloaked figures who had apparated in, blocking off several of the side-streets which would have taken the students back towards the castle and its wards. A couple of metres down the street, Harry stumbled, almost tripping over a paper bag filled with somebody's abandoned vegetables.

He paused, seeing a couple of Death Eaters ahead of him, and groped around in his pocket to find his wand, before stunning one of them, and barely managing to dodge a cruciatus curse sent towards him by the second. He span slightly as he heard someone behind him scream, the spell having flown past him and hit another student.

'Sectumsempra!' another voice called while he was momentarily distracted, and Harry stumbled back against a wall, with his arm bleeding heavily. He raised his good arm (thankfully, the spell had hit his left arm) and aimed his wand at his attacker, but the cloaked man went down before Harry could get his mouth around a spell.

Remus appeared at Harry's side before he'd really registered what was going on, and he slipped Harry's arm around his shoulder. Harry leant against him with most of his weight, since his vision was beginning to blur with the blood loss. 'Lily,' he managed to slur out. 'And Alice. They... they're still in the dress shop. I have to-'

'Shh,' Remus said comfortingly. 'James and Sirius went to find them. And it's not like they can't take care of themselves. We need to get you out of here before you pass out.'

But it was almost too late for that. Harry's world was rapidly fading away, and the last thing he remembered seeing was Remus' feet moving slowly towards the end of the street, as he hauled his friend away from the battle.

---

Harry easily recognised the blaring white walls of the hospital wing when he came to, and squinted against the light. Somebody was talking quietly nearby, and as he became more lucid, he recognised the voice as Lily's. 'Lily?' he asked wearily. 'Are you okay?'

She stopped talking as soon as she heard his voice, but when he'd finished his question, she snorted with amusement. 'Shouldn't I be the one asking that question?' she enquired.

He grinned, turning to face her, as well as James, who was hovering a little further away, and had clearly been the person she was speaking to a moment ago. They stared at each other uncertainly for a moment, before Lily sighed.

'Alice and I are both fine,' she said to Harry, 'which is more than can be said for you. Madam Pomfrey says your arm won't scar, as long as you don't do anything to re-open the wound.' She frowned at him. 'And whatever is going on between you two can stop right now, because this is beginning to feel awkward.'

Harry closed his eyes, bracing himself, and then turned to look at Lily. 'After the seeker tryouts. I kissed your boyfriend. Forgive me?'

She snorted, and James looked as if he were choking on the air. Lifting her chin, Lily said imperiously, 'I forgive you. But if you decide to do it again, at least have the decency to let me watch.'

This time it was Harry who laughed, his chest rumbling, even as James' face began to turn purple. 'Lily,' he said lightly, teasing, 'When did you become such a pervert?'

-------I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Author's Note (IMPORTANT!):** Okay, so a lot of people have asked me if I'm discontinuing this story. The answer is no, I am not. Chapters have been a little (or a lot) slow lately, because, well... mostly because I'm really lazy. But you guys have finally guilted me into getting off my arse and writing something. I hope it was worth the wait. And I do intend to be updating much more regularly this summer (hopefully weekly, at the very least). So, yeah. Expect more regular updates from me in the future. And this story is currently number one on my priority list, so I won't be updating any of the others until this one's finished (probably at around 25 chapters).


	15. Chapter 15: Coming Home

Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to animeangel088 for being the first reviewer.

Miss Moony would also like to thank Dadaiiro, kate, Willa1317, GravityMon, Yana5, Darkfire, steph.2791, Yami Ryo, Avy-Snape, AmunRa02, evil-sami-poo, Crimson, .Rose, VintagePalimsest, moshi95 AKA sherley C., eyes of sky and twilightserius for reviewing.

**Chapter warnings:** Time-travel, slash, incest

**Chapter summary:** Harry and Eir discuss many things. Voldemort causes problems in the Ministry, and Dumbledore doesn't know when Harry will be able to go home. Harry thinks he's already there.

**Important:** A lot of sensitive issues about incest are addressed in this chapter, mostly for the sake of my own peace of mind, but because incest is always going to be a controversial topic, I have written a more extensive note in my livejournal, which I have linked to my profile page, and I urge you to read it once you've finished with this chapter. Thanks. (I will also be changing my pen name soon, so don't be surprised if this story starts appearing under a different name.)

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Chapter 15: Coming Home**

Meals with Eir, Harry had decided, were rather like a good therapy session, except that he didn't have to pay. The usual agenda seemed to revolve around Harry offloading all his future-related concerns on Eir, while she sat quietly and hmm-ed in between sentences. He found that he rather liked the routine, even if he wasn't usually one to talk about his feelings. It was... comforting.

On this particular occasion – not too long after Harry had finally been released from Madam Pomfrey's tender care – Harry was attempting to tell Eir about Alice and Frank's wedding plans, but he was continually getting sidetracked as he remembered Alice's dress-hunt, and the uncertainty that Lily seemed to feel about the entire situation. He sighed, resigning himself to the fact that the entire meal would probably be spent discussion Alice and Lily's unresolved issues. 'Any insight on it?' he asked Eir, not really expecting her to know anything, since she wasn't close to either of the girls.

Eir looked thoughtful for a moment, and then met Harry's eyes. 'You're talking about Frank Longbottom, aren't you?' He nodded, and she continued after his confirmation. 'I hadn't thought that Longbottom and Hart were seeing each other,' she said. 'There was some fiasco when Longbottom was given a temporary academic suspension in sixth year, because he'd been caught in the prefects' bathroom with a fourth-year girl, and even though nothing came of it, he didn't appear to be dating anyone else before graduation. A lot of people assumed that he carried on seeing her once the gossip died down, but was a little more discreet about it.'

Harry blinked, surprised. 'So Lily thinks he's still hung up over this girl?' he asked, but Eir shook her head.

'If I'm not mistaken, Lily Evans _was_ that girl,' she said.

Silence prevailed, for a long moment, while Harry stared at her in shock. And then he laughed weakly and hesitantly. 'You- you think she's using James to get over Frank?' he asked, disbelieving.

'It's possible,' Eir answered promptly. 'Though, if you ask me, it's more likely that they're both using each other.'

Another long silence stretched out between them, and Harry stared down at the table in contemplation, dropping his soup spoon in his still half-full bowl. Something seemed to be doing belly flops in his stomach, and it was making him feel rather queasy; he already knew what Eir was getting at, though he'd been lying through his teeth about it for some while. He'd even been lying to himself.

Eir glanced at him hesitantly, and then reached out across the table, and drew her thumb tenderly across his left cheek. 'Harry,' she said softly. 'I know that your... desire for James is a discomfiting thing. And that his desire for you is equally so, whether he has acknowledged it or not. But it isn't something that will just go away. And you have not thought of him as your father in quite some time.

'You have already changed this timeline, whatever your intentions, and your chances of returning to the home you know, grow slimmer and slimmer with every change that you make. To find your happiness – your home – in this time, and to remain... would that be such a terrible thing?'

He smiled at her, but only faintly. 'Not a terrible thing, no,' he said. 'But still a little scary.' And then he picked up his spoon again, and took another sip of his tomato soup. They did not speak again for quite some time.

---

It was not until the following weekend that Harry had another chance to speak intimately with the woman who was swiftly becoming a mother figure to him. He had spent several hours each day contemplating the subject of their previous discussion, but was no closer to resolving his feelings than he had been then.

Eir, interrupted from her studies by a soft knock on the door, found the teenager quite out of sorts, and welcomed him inside with a kind and understanding ear. 'What you need,' she told him after silently listening to his worries for almost an hour, 'is to think about this sensibly. Some taboos come from the most ridiculous prejudices, but not all of them. You need to think about why any incestuous relationship might be considered wrong, and how this applies to your own situation. Because, truly, I have never heard of such a situation before.'

Harry, seated in an armchair opposite her, with his head in his hands, was silent for several long minutes. Eventually, he raised his head slightly and said, 'Kids. Incest is wrong because the kids can get really serious genetic diseases. But that's completely irrelevant, because James and I are both boys.'

Eir nodded. 'There's that,' she said. 'But you also need to think about his authority over you.'

Harry snorted. 'As if,' he said derisively. 'I lost any respect I had for him as a father when I was fifteen.'

'Then is that not an issue, either?' she replied, and Harry looked away.

'Maybe,' he said. 'I don't know.'

Eir raised an eyebrow, and took a sip of her tea. 'Why don't you sleep on it?' she asked, somewhat rhetorically.

'I suppose,' Harry said, rising to his feet, and seeming to head towards the door. But just as he was leaving, he paused in the doorway as Eir spoke again.

'If it helps,' she told him, 'I believe that he loves you as much as you love him. You can overcome this, with a lot of work.'

He looked back over his shoulder at her, and smiled as the door swung shut.


	16. Chapter 16: Written in the Stars

Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to Yana5 for being the first reviewer.

Miss Moony would also like to thank The elusive shadow, The Sleeping Creature, Sparkly Red Slippers, evil-sami-poo, Elwyndra, The Artistic Fool, Willa1317, Christina-Marie-35, DarkBombayAngel, Hiddensoul38, Rori Potter, PrincePotter, .Rose, animaluvr123, Potterdownthestreet, Darkfire The Phoenix and animeangel088 for reviewing.

**Chapter warnings:** Time travel, slash, incest

**Chapter summary:** A Care of Magical Creatures lesson takes Harry into the Forbidden Forest, where he meets the centaurs.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

**Chapter 16: Reading the Future in the Stars**

It was in mid-March and just approaching the Easter holidays when Harry was surprised to come across Hagrid as he gathered near the gamekeeper's cottage with his Care of Magical Creatures class. He was wandering slowly towards the small group, looking pleased as he listened to the words of Professor Kettleburn, who was walking at his side.

'Class!' Kettleburn called out, securing the attention of all the students who had not already been staring at the unlikely pair. 'We will be heading into the forbidden forest today, so I've asked Mr. Hagrid to accompany us. I expect you to treat him as you would treat me.'

He finished off with a warning glare towards a gaggle of Slytherins who were lingering apart from the rest of the group, muttering discontentedly amongst themselves. Harry shared a glance with Lily and Alice, who had been put in a group with him – as well as Peter Pettigrew – during their first class of the year. 'Hagrid is Professor Kettleburn's assistant,' Alice told him quietly. 'And he's the gamekeeper as well. Dumbledore will probably have Hagrid take over from Kettleburn when he retires.'

Harry nodded, and smiled at her in thanks, though of course he already knew Hagrid's story far more intimately than Alice did.

'We'll be meeting up with a small group of centaurs from the herd which resides in the forest,' Kettleburn continued once there was silence, 'and I'll remind you only once to mind your manners with them. Centaurs are highly intelligent creatures, and this particular herd are not, on the whole, all too fond of humans. They've done us a great kindness by agreeing to meet with us, and I'll be downgrading any student who acts in a way to make them regret it.'

Ripples of malcontent moved through the group almost like something tangible, and Harry bit his lip to hide a laugh, understanding the centaurs' opinions on witches and wizards well enough to know that they would probably be offended by a student who breathed too loudly. Such meetings would probably not be arranged for the younger years.

Lost in thought for a moment, Harry was startled when a cool hand touched his arm. Lily met his eyes curiously, and tilted her head towards Alice and Peter, who had begun to move into the forest with the rest of the class. 'Penny for your thoughts?' she said quietly to him as they jogged to catch up with their friends.

He smiled at her, but shook his head. 'It's nothing,' he said.

---

There were three centaurs who met them a few yards into the forest; two burly red-haired men with chestnut flanks, and an elderly, grey-haired woman. They introduced themselves as Colm, Lorcan and Aine, respectively, and Harry was surprised by their manner with the students. One of the red-heads stood stoically by Aine's side, but the other greeted the class with a welcoming smile.

Of the three of them, it was the friendly Lorcan who did the most socialising, though Colm seemed to have a semi-regular stream of giggling girls (Harry regarded him curiously for a moment, and then decided that he did seem rather handsome, if one ignored the fact that half of him was a horse). Aine however, did not speak at all, instead choosing to linger further away from the main body of students, and observe them silently.

Harry did likewise, once his group had chatted with Lorcan for several minutes. Lily and Alice had hurried off to talk to Colm afterwards, and Peter seemed to be trying to get as far away from Harry as he could, which suited Harry just fine. He took a moment to search out Peter in the small crowd, but he'd only just started looking when he was forced to abandon his search, hearing somebody approaching him.

It was Aine. She halted a couple of feet away from him and regarded him silently for a long moment, while Harry squirmed, disquieted by her stare. 'Is there something I can help you with?' he asked eventually, hoping that she would either answer, or leave him be.

For a little while longer, she did neither. But just as Harry was about to repeat his question, she spoke. 'Much time has been spent,' she said, 'to bring you home, Far-Traveller.'

Harry started, and gazed at her in mute disbelief until she spoke again. 'The man you would have become has died under a black moon, and everything you once knew is lost forever. This cannot change.'

He swallowed twice, trying to think of a response, but she moved away before he could find the words.

---

Lily and Alice both left the castle again for the Easter holidays, though most of the other students who were going home were in the lower years. Harry had accompanied James to Hogsmeade station to wave them off, and then headed back to the common room, wondering whether they'd have sorted out their issues over Frank by the time they got back – and particularly since they would both be spending the holidays with his family, preparing for the wedding.

James was unusually quiet as they trundled back to the castle in the rain, and half of Harry wanted to ask him if he was okay, but since his conversation with Eir, he hadn't really been sure how to speak to James. But as it would seem, his glances asked the question for him.

James had noticed him staring, and he hung his head slightly. 'I talked to Lily last night,' he said, sounding tired. 'And she said she thought we needed a break.'

Harry didn't respond, but he must have made some kind of reaction, because James said, 'You don't seem surprised.'

'I don't know,' Harry said, stopping in his tracks and looking up at the sky. 'Part of me thought you'd end up getting married, or something. But, no, I don't think I'm all that surprised. Did she give you a reason?'

James stopped as well, and sighed. 'She said she didn't think it was fair for either of us to stay together when we both had feelings for someone else.'

His eyes met Harry's, and he stared intently for a long moment, as if waiting for some profound reply, but Harry could only look away.


End file.
